reak, her step-father
must be humoured, conciliated. The thought was humiliating, but
necessity urged. And she accepted the inevitable with simple courage.

Well enough was she aware of the danger in which she stood, and further
the danger in which her required course placed her.

Had she known all that lay in the man's ruthless heart, had she been
present at her mother's bedside, and listened to those talks which
Lu-cana had told her of, had she had less youth and courage and a
deeper understanding of the realities of life, it is likely that panic
would have sent her fleeing headlong from a presence that filled her
with nothing but loathing. But she had been spared all this knowledge,
and Nicol saw to it that nothing should startle her, nothing should
excite her distrust until, in the fulness of time, his purposes had
fully ripened.

As it was he accepted the position which Keeko had created. He played
his part as she played hers. And right up to the very last moment before
the girl's departure for Seal Bay nothing was permitted to disturb the
harmony between them.

The man gave her farewell and received the girl's calm response. He
watched her Indians break out the two sleds on the bitterly frosted
trail. He heard her sharp tones echoing through the still air as she
gave the order to "mush." And all the while he stood smiling, while his
eyes followed every movement of the girl's graceful, fur-clad body with
the insensate lust of an animal.

Robbed of all suspicion Keeko went forth with a heart high with hope.
Away out lay her cache of priceless furs to be picked up within the next
few hours. All the great plan which she and her mother had so carefully
prepared looked to be reaching fulfilment. She had only to sell her furs
and return and pay over her step-father's due. It would be springtime
then.

All her mind and heart turned to Marcel. Yes. He would be there. Far
away up the river where the old grey skull of the moose was watching for
her coming. And then--and then--But imagination carried her no further.
She was left longing only for that moment to come.

Nicol remained only long enough to see the runners of the hindmost sled
vanish in a flurry of powdered snow round the limits of a woodland
bluff. Then he turned back to the dark old fort, and the mask under
which he had so carefully concealed himself fell away. Straightway he
returned to his store to flood his senses with the raw spirit which
alone made